Other Minnesota cities with Wi Fi include Moorhead, Buffalo, St. Louis Park, and Grand Marais.  Tothehome.com is currently installing its system to be operational in Cologne in January.  Other cities in the planning stages for Wi Fi include Minneapolis, St. Paul, Shakopee, Jordan, Burnsville, and Norwood Young America.
Mayor-Elect Mary Thun stated, "I have no objection to exploring this."  She made the motion to step forward "because the city can make some money off of this."  There is no financial investment or technology risk for the City of Victoria.  The city will enter into a lease agreement for infrastructure of tothehome.com to be placed onto the city's water tower for a reduced rate for the first two years.
Wi Fi is short for "wireless fidelity."  It is an alternative to a wired local area network.  Many airports, hotels, and other services offer public access to WiFi networks so people can log onto the Inter-net and receive emails on the move.  These locations are known as hotspots.  Wi-Fi uses high frequency radio signals to transmit and receive data.
A bit later in this evening of Decem-ber 14th, Victoria resident Maryse Thomas spoke at the podium regarding this topic.  "I'm a wireless internet use.  There are a couple of things to review before you go any further with this company.  You should ask about their technical support and how far accessibility goes.  The city could ask to participate in any revenue that would be generated.  Also, ask about security."  The resident was asked to contact City Administrator Dave Urbia with a call or email related to this information.


BEGINNING OF A PAINFUL PROCESS
AT SITHTOWN ROAD IN VICTORIA
In December 14th councilmembers ordered the improvement and preparation of plans and specifications of Smithtown street, drainage, and utilities.  The motion is the result of a feasibility study ordered in April, 2005.

Water lines will be replaced.  City sewer lines will be televised for possible repair or replacement.  The street will be 28 feet wide with 4-foot shoulders.  If a trail is constructed, residents must help decide on which side of Smithtown Road it will be constructed.
City Engineer Cara Geheren estimat-ed that construction cost is $1.6 million.  With contingencies, total project cost becomes $2.15 million.  With all the re-ductions -- including assessment shares paid by the City of Victoria and $400,000 in state aid funds -- individual property assessments were whittled down to $10,800 per unit.
"I'm in favor of the project," said Mark Jeter, resident on Smithtown Road.  "I'd also love to see a walkway.  How long will the project take?  Anything you can do to accelerate the project would be helpful."
Replied the engineer, "I won't say it won't be a painful process.  It will take six months over the winter of 2007-2008 to reconstruct the culvert.  Smithtown will be closed from the spring of 2007 to the summer of 2007 for the northern part, and during the summer of 2008 for the south-ern part."


VICTORIA STREE PROJECTS CONTINUE
WITH THE IMPROVEMENT LINEUP FOR 2007
In December 14th Council accepted the feasibility report and called for a hear-ing on 2007 street and drainage improve-ments to sections of Woodstone Drive, Smithtown Court, Woodstone Glen, and Woodstone Lane.  This particular report is in addition to the 2007 Smithtown Road project.
Said City Engineer Cara Geheren regarding Woodstone in Deer Run, "This is a reclamation project where we go in and grind up the street to a depth of 8 inches.  There is some cracking, some maintenance is needed, but the street is not deteriorated to the level of Kirke-Lachen, for example.
"We grind it up and lay it back down, installing drain tile in front of the curb a couple feet below the street surface.  If we don't put the drain tile in, it will continue to deteriorate at a very fast rate.
"Those streets were built in the late '80's.  The utilities are in good shape.  It fits the new subdivision feel.  About 25% of the curb is estimated to be replaced."
The engineer estimated the total project cost to be $715,500 with the city picking up $358,300 of that cost.  She said the golf course itself will receive 9 unit assessments.  Each unit is subject to an assessment ranging up to $4,800.  If the street would have been a reconstruction rather than reclamation project, the per unit assessment would have been around $11,000.
The public hearing on the project and the assessments is scheduled for Thurs-day, January 11th, 2007, at City Hall at 6:30 p.m.  If the city selects an alternate improvement to one of the streets (not recommended by the city engineer), total project cost is increased to $733,900.

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